1. Introduction Our movement identifies the Lost Ten Tribes with peoples in the West. This is what we do. This is what we stress and this is what we want our message to be. We believe in the Bible and associated secular research and spreading knowledge of our findings. We would like to see much more of this type of activity. We feel that governments and academia should also participate in it. At present, we are not funded by any private body. We never have been. We depend on contributions and purchases of our publications. We also almost daily interact with out followers though our postings etc. All this means that we must be especially sensitive to their needs and interests. Quite a few have expressed interest in coming to live in Israel. We are against this for several reasons. See: Seven Reasons. Why Descendants of the Ten Tribes are not Accepted into Israel at Present.http://hebrewnations.com/articles/eph/seven-points.htmlThe Bible speaks of the Ten Tribes returning reuniting with Judah and receiving an inheritance in the Land of Greater Israel stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates as described in Ezekiel chapter 47. The Bible however says that this will take place in the End Times and that when it does each Tribe will receive its own Tribal portion. The Tribes will not intermix with each other.

Ezekiel 47: 13 Thus says the Lord God: These are the borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. 14 You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance.

Ezekiel 47: 21 Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance, says the Lord God.

Recently there was some discussion of this issue. We brought up the case of the Black Hebrews in Dimona who claimed to be descended from Israelites. They turned out to be a problem and this could influence the attitude of Israeli authorities towards similar efforts in the future. This was followed by letters from our readers including that of David Jackson given below. Following this letter we discuss, or bring sources concerning, identification as Israelites amongst the Black Hebrews and Black People in general. We then give brief outlines of similar cases concerning "white" non-Jewish people who have come as groups to settle in Israel. Finally we confirm our previously-held conclusion that at present the emphasis should not be on coming to live in Israel but rather in spreading the message of Israelite Ancestry.

Yair, Regarding so-called Ephraimites coming to Israel, I agree that such groups should and will be viewed with suspicion by the state authorities in Israel. My (limited) knowledge of such groups suggests to me that they often consider themselves as deserving of something, that Jews aren't "real" Israelis, that Christianity has replaced Judaism before God, and other such nonsense.

I am surprised that the Israeli authorities were duped into believing Africans were actually of Hebrew descent. That was laughable. I can see where some white Christians in the US who may want to migrate to Israel and are labeled as "undesirables" by the state while Africans are allowed in would be offended. In any case, that decision seems to be working itself out as would be expected.

I am a strongly pro-Israel Christian, primarily of Anglo-Scandinavian stock and therefore presumably from the LTT, who has no desire to move to Israel. I like my native land. I don't say this with personal pride, however. I realize that events may someday compel people such as me to flee to Israel and I can only hope for the grace of that state should that day come. We've all been refugees at some point.

When The Almighty decides it's time for the LTT to return, it will seem obvious, overwhelming and unstoppable.

Currently many US politicians, such the President and influential senators such as Schumer of New York and Boxer of California (both Jewish), along with others from all faiths and political parties support Charles Hagel, an anti-Israel former senator from Nebraska, to become the US Secretary of Defense. This is just another small step in the goal of marginalizing and de-constituting Israel.

They think that by giving the Palestinians evermore bits of territory and by keeping them confined to horrible conditions (granted of their own making) in refugee camps that border Israel rather than forcing Arab states to accept them as permanent residents and thereby allowing them to get on with their lives, that they destabilize the region and undermine the demographic integrity of the Israeli state.

This plan could well work, just like it worked in Europe and South Africa and is working in the US now.

Someday Israel may have to simply declare openly that it is a land of, by and for people of Israelite descent and that the Palestinians, Arabs, Russians, Africans and others who are there will either have to leave or accept a non-participatory role in national affairs.

This is utterly anathema to the spirit of the age. If it happens it will no doubt incur the wrath, sanctions and worse of the condemning world. Maybe then will be the right time for the LTT to return. Maybe then the Land of Israel will expand its heart and borders and accept them.

There is a big difference in asking to be accepted and demanding it. David Jackson Roanoke, TX ==== ====3. Brit-Am Reply: Explanation of Black Hebrew Mistake. What We can learn from it. Similar Experiments with "White" Israelites were made in the Past. ==== ====4. Black Hebrews and Company. First of all there are Afro-American converts to Judaism to be found in every section and branch of the Jewish Community.

Secondly there are small groups of Afro-American practitioners of Judaism some of whom are converts to Judaism and others not. A relation of Michelle Obama is the Rabbi of such a group. He is more or less recognized by other Orthodox Rabbis. See:Michelle Obama Has a Rabbi in Her Family. Capers Funnye, Leading Black Israelite, Is Aspiring First Lady's CousinExtracts: Quote:# Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago's South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye's mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama's paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.

# Funnye (pronounced fuh-NAY) is chief rabbi at the Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in southwest Chicago. He is well-known in Jewish circles for acting as a bridge between mainstream Jewry and the much smaller, and largely separate, world of black Jewish congregations, sometimes known as black Hebrews or Israelites. He has often urged the larger Jewish community to be more accepting of Jews who are not white. End Quote.

Thirdly in Africa there are numerous black groups that believed they are descended from either Canaanites or Israelites (or both) and that practise Biblical-type customs. Historically Canaanites, non-Israelite Samaritans, Israelites, Jews, Nestorian Christians with Old Testament practices, Karaites, and who knows what else probably reached those areas.

Many of the mixed descendants of Africans, Spanish-Portuguese and Scottish Irish in the West Indies especially Jamaica also believe they are descended from Israelites.

In the USA there are numerous Afro-American groups who believe they descend from Israel. Some of these are anti-Jewish and anti-White but others are not. They are very active on the Internet and with YouTube clips.

See:

Black Hebrew IsraelitesAllegations of black supremacy and racism In late 2008, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described as black supremacist what it called "the extremist fringe of the Hebrew Israelite movement". It wrote that the members of such groups "believe that Jews are devilish impostors and ... openly condemn whites as evil personified, deserving only death or slavery". The SPLC also said that "most Hebrew Israelites are neither explicitly racist nor anti-Semitic and do not advocate violence".[54]

The Black Hebrew groups characterized as black supremacist by the SPLC include the Nation of Yahweh and the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ. Also, the Anti-Defamation League has written that the "12 Tribes of Israel" website, maintained by a Black Hebrew group, promotes black supremacy.

The group that came to Israel called themselves the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem. They were headed by Ben Ammi Carter.

Here are a few excerpts from the Wikipedia article on the subject.

African Hebrew Israelites of JerusalemExtracts: The African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem (also known as The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem or Black Hebrews or Black Hebrew Israelites) is a small spiritual group whose members believe they are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. With a population of over 5,000, most members live in their own community in Dimona, Israel, with additional families in Arad, Mitzpe Ramon, and the Tiberias area. Their immigrant ancestors were African Americans from Chicago, Illinois, who migrated to Israel in the late 1960s.

At least some of them consider themselves to be Jewish, but mainstream Judaism does not consider them to be Jewish.

The group was founded in Chicago by a former steel worker named Ben Carter (b.1939). In his early twenties Carter was given the name Ben Ammi by Rabbi Reuben of the Chicago Congregation of Ethiopian Hebrews.[3] Ben Ammi says that in 1966 he had a "vision," in which the Archangel Gabriel[4] called him to take his people, African Americans, back to the Holy Land of Israel.[5]

Ammi claimed that the Israelites, after having been expelled from Jerusalem under the Romans, migrated to West Africa. They were later captured and transported to America as slaves.

They are influenced by the teachings of the Jamaican proponent of Black nationalism, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), and by the Black civil rights milieu in 1960s America, including figures such as the Black Panthers, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. From these they have incorporated elements of black separatism as well as the doctrine of repatriation of the African Diaspora to its ancestral lands in a "return to Africa", of which they consider Israel to be a part.[7] Israel is claimed to be located in Northeastern Africa.[8]

Ben Ammi and 350 of his followers first settled in Liberia in 1967. In 1969 they began moving to Israel, entering the country on temporary visas that were periodically renewed. As their numbers grew, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel ruled that they were not Jews, and therefore not entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return[citation needed]. This was compounded by their refusal to convert, as well as their insistence that most Israeli Jews are not genealogically related to the ancient Israelites.[9]

Members of the group continued to arrive and settled in the desert community of Dimona. For two decades, their population continued growing through natural increase and illegal immigration. Throughout the 1970s tensions between the group and the state of Israel grew as the group faced low employment, inadequate housing and attempted deportation, while the state considered them illegal aliens.

In May 1990, the group reached an agreement with the government whereby they were granted tourist status with a (B/1) Visa that entitled them to work; in 1991 they were given temporary resident status (A/5) for a period of five years, which in 1995 was extended for another three years. At the beginning of 2004, the group was granted permanent residency status by the Israeli Interior Ministry. In 2009, Elyakim Ben-Israel became the first Black Hebrew to receive Israeli citizenship. The Israeli government said that more Black Hebrews may be granted citizenship.[15]

In sports they have represented Israel at home and in Europe in track and field and national softball events, including the Maccabiah Games. Their students have and still represent Israel in international academic competitions at the highest levels. Members of the community have represented Israel in two Eurovision song contests.

In 2004, Uriyahu Butler became the first member of the community to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and by 2006 more than 100 of their youth were serving in the IDF in regular units. The IDF agreed to accommodate some of their dietary and other religious requirements.[16]

The group practices "polygyny", meaning that a man can marry several wives (up to six).[19] Within the community this is termed "Divine Marriage",[20] being based on Biblical examples such as King David. Polygyny is not required, constituting approximately 37 percent of marriages in 1992.[21]

Ben Ammi claims that ... The "Euro-gentile" establishment attempted "a deliberate scheme to conceal the truth that ancient Hebrews were Black" and "perpetuated the white Jesus deception". [They believe in the New Testament]

Accusations of Anti-Semitism and Current Relations with the Israeli Government

On several occasions Ben Ammi and the community have been accused of anti-semitism. As well as denying the Israelite heritage of world Jewry and its claim to the land of Israel, the stalemate between the community and Israel in the late 70s led to heightened tensions and according to the Jerusalem Post, "Ben Ammi mounted a worldwide public-relations offensive against the government that dripped with anti-semitism. Community newspapers compared the Israelis to Nazis and included images of money-grubbing Jews and other stereotypes".[40] However, relations improved during the 1990s as the Hebrew Israelite community distanced themselves from the overzealous and ineffective extremist stance taken up in earlier years. The group has since become a valued part of both the Dimona community and wider Israeli society and has pursued integration in ways such as volunteering to serve in the IDF.[25]

Brit-Am Comment:

The Wikipedia article is misleading at least in part. There is fiction between the Black Hebrews and Jews. Their youths harass and sometimes physically attack Jewish Rabbinical students in Mizpeh Rimon and other serious problems exist. The State of Israel was afraid to deport them due to threats of black violence against Jewish communities in the USA.

There is a group in the USA of mainly Reform Jews and Agnostics known as Kulanu that encourages mainly colored people to claim to be Jewish or Israelite. In the past the State of Israel held high hopes of establishing good relations with nations of Black Africa. The idea was that just as the Jewish People had risen from the Ashes and created a new nation so too might the Africans be so inspired. For historical reasons Jews have always been sympathetic towards oppressed peoples. A lot of energy, money, and ongoing effort was expended in aid to Africa. The results on the whole were disappointing. The Jews should learn to be cost-effective. The Western Peoples are more amenable to such approaches. Historically they are also the regions wherein descendants of the Ten Tribes are to be found.

There was never a group of Western Peoples claiming to be from the Ten Tribes who settled in Israel. Nevertheless since the founding of the State in 1948 there were numerous non-Jewish groups from the West who set up some type of settlement. From a Jewish point of view the results were mostly (but not always) disappointing.

Extracts:Founded 1971 Founded by Finnish pioneers

Yad Hashmona (Hebrew: Memorial for the Eight) is a small moshav shitufi in central Israel, located in the Judean Mountains near Jerusalem

Yad Hashmona was founded in 1971 by a small group of Finnish Christians. [1] It is named for eight Jewish refugees from Austria who escaped to Finland in 1938. The Finnish government, collaborating with the Nazis, handed the refugees over to the Gestapo in 1942. Seven of them died in Auschwitz.[2] In 1978, a group of messianic Jews joined the moshav. Most of the members are now Israelis and the main spoken language is Hebrew. [3] Due to intermarriage with Israeli Jews the moshav has become a center of Messianic Jews in Israel.

The community runs a guesthouse, convention center and banquet hall. In 2000, a biblical village was inaugurated with the assistance of the Swiss Beth Shalom society and the Israel Antiquities Authority.[4] A Biblical garden planted on the hillside replicates agriculture in ancient times. Apart from tourism, the economy is based on carpentry.

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Brit-Am Comment on Yad Hashmona: The Russian Gentiles The community of Yad Hashmon may (or may not) have contributed something but it has become a center for anti-Jewish missionary activity. How the community received permission to set itself up in the first place is also a mystery. It should be noted that there does exist within Israel those who are against the Jewish Religion and who would like to see a weakening of the Jewishness of the Jewish People. The recent large-scale immigration of Jews from the USSR was accompanied by the acceptance as citizens of ca. 300, 000 non-Jews. The impression is that there may have been an ideological motivation behind this on the part of some Establishment figures. It was not entirely an inescapable concomitant of bringing as many Jewish families as possible to Israel. See Also: Christian Conversionist Intentions and Brit-AmFinland in the past was a supporter of Israel. This may have been a factor in approving the Yad Shemoneh project. In recent years however Finland has given tens of millions of dollars to left-wing self-hating Jewish groups in Israel. Finland has also given strong financial support tot he Palestinian Authority which works for the destruction of Jewish Life in the Land of Israel. Yad Shemoneh also works to destroy the Jews from inside. ====6. Rabbi Simha Perlmutter and Ir Avot: American Gentiles who settled in Israel. Simha Perlmutter is described as a Rabbi from Miami, USA. In 1967 he led a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles to Israel. He converted the Gentiles in his group and the conversions were recognized by the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Goren. Perlmutter was a charismatic figure who believed himself inspired. We do not know what his beliefs were concerning the Ten Tribes BUT quite a few converts to Judaism who did believe in the Ten Tribes being in the west were interested in his activities and acquainted with him. The socio-economic and ethnic background of many of the followers of Perlmutter as well as their general Biblical belief orientation was similar to that of many of our own followers. Perlmutter received land for a settlement and aid from the Jewish Agency to set up a settlement named "Ir Ovot" in the Negev Desert area in southern Israel. A spring that was claimed to have medicinal properties was discovered there. The fanatical anti-Zionist, but very influential and much admired, Satmer Rabbi when he visited Israel came to the settlement and immersed himself in the healing waters. [This could also have been considered a de facto gesture of support for Perlmutter and his movement as it seemed to be at the time].

The rest of the story may be picked up from excerpts from an article dealing with the matter: Extracts from: About a boy

# Over the years, Ir Ovot attracted newly religious Jews, as well as non-Jews, whom Simha Perlmutter himself converted; later, he officiated at their weddings. ...At a certain point, when the [Jewish] Agency washed its hands of him and refused to meet his requests for water and land allotments, Perlmutter - who had become ever more extreme in his religiosity - turned for help to the heads of the Haredi movement: the Satmar rebbe and the leader of the most extreme current in Orthodox Judaism, Toldot Aharon. ...Perlmutter declared that he had become an anti-Zionist....In the 1970s, Ir Ovot became an extension of Me'a Shearim [Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem often depicted as the epitome of Jewish religious extremism ], religiously speaking. Hasidim of Toldot Aharon settled there and opened a school and synagogue. Daily life still followed the kibbutz model, with a strictly ultra-Orthodox-approved dining hall and kibbutz meetings in the synagogue, but the members followed the lead of the sect in Jerusalem. ...In 1982, the romance between Ir Ovot and Me'a Shearim suddenly ended, and most of the kibbutz members, including Yehudit Perlmutter [one of the two wives of Perlmutter] and her three children, all left at the same time. ...The affair hit the newspapers when Yehudit Perlmutter, who sought a get (Jewish divorce) from her husband, demanded custody of her seven-year-old boy, who was with the father. She argued before the rabbinic court in Be'er Sheva that Perlmutter was using the guise of a Haredi Jew to preach Christianity. ...After the big rift, a small group of eccentrics, and half of Perlmutter's family, were left on Ir Ovot. Perlmutter's two sons, Dari and Ari, from his two wives, continued to live there. The place gradually died. Simha Perlmutter passed away about a year and a half ago. His son, Ari, a paratrooper, was killed in a 1994 terror attack at the main bus station in Hadera. Dari is trying to set up a guest house at Ir Ovot.

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Footnote: There are those who deny that Perlmutter was really a Christian. Even if the settlement did not succeed Perlmutter did bring people to Israel and most of them appear to have been successfully absorbed amongst the general Jewish community.

The Lesson of Perlmutter

Perlmutter was a religious leader who brought to Israel from the USA a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles. He converted the Gentiles. The authorities recognized him. He received support from the Jewish Agency. His group was given housing, land, water, and resources. Initially they achieved some success. Even important anti-Zionist elements such as Satmar and Toldot Aharon gave them support. And then it fell apart. The main fault appears to have been with Perlmutter himself. Many of his followers seem however to have remained in Israel though they scattered throughout the general Jewish community. Perlmutter was not an Ephraimite. The Ephraimites as a recognizable group came later. The attitude of Perlmutter however was similar to theirs. The answer seems to be that for the time being, if Ephraimites have a problem with Judaism they should remain outside of the land until the problem resolves itself or is on the way to doing so.

====7. The Village of Italian Gentiles who Converted and Settled in Israel.

Jews of San Nicandro From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe Jews of San Nicandro (also called San Nicandro Jews) are a small community of Jews from San Nicandro Garganico, Italy. The San Nicandro Jews are descended from local gentile families from the 15th century. Beginning in the late 1920s, the community developed as a result of the conversion of Donato Manduzio, a crippled WWI veteran who was inspired by his own reading of the Bible. He soon converted a number of his neighbors. By 1949, most of the San Nicandro Jews emigrated to Israel. Today the remaining Jews worship in the historic Scolanova Synagogue, in the neighboring town of Trani, Apulia.

JEWISH HISTORY / From mass to mass conversionIn August of 1946, the San Nicandro Sabbatini underwent conversion to Judaism. An Italian rabbi supervised the rituals. A Jewish surgeon performed the brit milah of 18 men and boys from five families. Ten days later, the men and women of the group had their ritual immersion in the sea. In November 1949, most of the San Nicandro converts sailed from the southern Italian city of Bari to Haifa and settled in Moshav Alma, near Safed, from where they dispersed to other parts of the country during the following decade, many of them to the Be'er Sheva region.

====8. Conclusion. The Israeli Government and Religion is not necessarily against Gentiles settling in Israel. There may well be certain Israelis who are avidly in favor of it BUT their motives are suspect. Nevertheless, the only successful conclusion of any such move should involve genuine conversion to Judaism. There may come a time for this but at present neither the Jews nor the Gentiles are really prepared for it. At all events it is not something we advocate nor are we involved with it. We concentrate on spreading knowledge of Israelite Ancestry and that is all. We think the eventual solutions will come about in the Messianic Times or close to them and that we must do what we know now, which is revealing the ancestry of the Ten Tribes amongst Western Peoples. Concerning coming to Israel to permanently live at this stage, frankly we not know what the answer should be. Nor does our opinion matter much on this issue. We have said before it is a red herring and diversionary. We do know that the Ten Tribes are amongst Western Peoples and that this knowledge should be made known and confirmed through additional intensive research. Descendants of the Ten Tribes should internalize this message in their present places of residence. They should also support the State of Israel . The Bible predicts the return of the Ten Tribes as remaining separate. Each Tribe will receive its own Tribal portion. The Land of Greater Israel stretches from the Nile to the Euphrates. Let us all do what we have to do as we can. Help support Brit-Am in its researches and propagation of its message concerning the Israelite Ancestry of Western Peoples.

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The "KHAZARS" were a semi-nomadic people who became prominent in southern Russia and its neighborhood in the 600s to 900s CE. They were quite powerful with a far-reaching influence and well-developed civilization.

The Blessings in the Bible given to the Children of Israel were epitomized most strongly in the Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim dominates Britain and her daughters, Manasseh is pre-eminent in the USA.

Chosen People
The Ancient Celts and related peoples referred to themselves as Hebrews.The inhabitants of Britain pertained mainly to clans belonging to Joseph. The Jews need to believe in the God of Israel and keep the Torah.